MUSSOLINI AND FASCISM
at Trent, he had spent all his student days in Florence.
When thereafter he returned to his native soil, his
dwelling became a centre of fervent nationalism. Pos-
sessed of knowledge at once infinitely deeper and more
extensive than his new companion could boast of, he put
the finishing touches on Mussolini's intellectual develop-
ment and persuaded him that his social ideas were
perfectly compatible with his longing for a greater
Italy, if indeed they were not the very means to obtain it.
This blend of nationalism and socialism is Mussolini's
distinctive characteristic. It affords the key to all his
actions.
Battisti gave his disciple the hospitality of a Trent
newspaper, the Popolo, of which he was editor. Musso-
lini gave vent to opinions of such violence that he was
soon expelled by the police. But his homecoming from
Austria was very different from his homecoming from
Switzerland. Mussolini was warmly welcomed by the
socialists of Milan, who entrusted him with the editorship
of their paper, AvantL On Battisti's advice, Mussolini
started a campaign urging the Socialist party to take
over the Government, for he believed he saw in Socialism
an instrument of national recovery. From 1912 to 1914,
he worked hard at organizing the working classes and
urged them to attack the bourgeoisie with all the energy
at their command. He was an agitator of the Karl Marx
school, but he was also a patriot, and he refused to be
at the beck and call of an International.
In June, 1914, he thought he saw his chance. During
a riot which broke out at Ancona, three working men
were killed by the police. In a few days the whole of the
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